ENVIRONMENTALIST CLAIMS CITY OUTER BY PASS DEAD IN THE WATER
Date Published: 11-Apr-2013
The man who took the case of the outer city bypass to the European Court of Justice claims today's judgement means the project is dead as a doornail
The issue was referred to the ECJ by the Supreme Court here after the appeal by environmental activist Peter Sweetman.
He claims that the planning authority interpreted the Habitats Directive incorrectly in granting permission for the road scheme.
The judgement issued this morning has outlined the criteria which must be used in relation to the Habitats Directive when assessing the Galway City Outer Bypass.
The ECJ says that if the outer city bypass prevents the preservation of the site for its characteristics as a natural habitat, then it would be considered to adversly affect the intergrity of the site.
The European Court says that this precautionary principal should be applied for the purposes of the appraisal of the Galway City Outer Bypass scheme.
Peter Sweetman told Galway Talks the very convoluted finding means the current plans for the outer city by pass are dead despite what politicians or officials might say.